300kV Cryo-Electron Microscope

哥廷根是国际知名的生物成像中心。最近，这一点得到了多尺度生物成像卓越集群奖的认可。然而，哥廷根大学的研究人员无法直接使用冷冻电子显微镜（cryo-EM）和冷冻电子断层扫描（cryo-ET）的仪器，这些仪器是连接结构和细胞生物学的关键技术。为了填补这一空白，我们在这里申请了能够通过冷冻EM和相关细胞冷冻ET进行高端单颗粒分析的设备。这套仪器包括用于样品玻璃化的自动插入式冷冻机，允许相关冷冻ET的冷冻光学显微镜，用于薄化玻璃化样品的冷冻聚焦离子束显微镜，以及配备有能量过滤器和用于冷冻EM/ET成像的直接电子检测器的300 kV冷冻电子显微镜。这些显微镜将被大学医学中心、物理学院和生物学与心理学学院的多个小组使用，以i）获得涉及例如泛素-蛋白酶体系统或转录后RNA加工的分离大分子的高分辨率结构，ii）以分子分辨率研究细胞和组织的天然组织，特别关注神经元功能和神经变性相关的功能障碍，以及iii）分析与可持续能源技术相关的玻璃化固液界面。

Göttingen is internationally renowned as a hub for biological imaging. Most recently, this has been recognized by the award of the Cluster of Excellence in Multiscale Bioimaging. However, researchers of the University of Göttingen have no direct access to instrumentation for cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), which are critical technologies to bridge the scales between structural and cell biology. To fill this gap, we apply here for equipment enabling both high-end single-particle analysis by cryo-EM and correlative cellular cryo-ET. This suite of instruments includes an automated plunge-freezer for sample vitrification, a cryo-light microscope to allow correlative cryo-ET, a cryo-focused ion beam microscope to thin down vitrified samples, and a 300 kV cryo-electron microscope equipped with an energy filter and a direct electron detector for cryo-EM/ET imaging. These microscopes will be used by multiple groups in the University Medical Center, the Faculty of Physics and the Faculty of Biology and Psychology to i) obtain high resolution structures of isolated macromolecules involved e.g. in the ubiquitin-proteasome system or post-transcriptional RNA processing, ii) study the native organization of cells and tissues at molecular resolution, with a particular focus on neuronal function and neurodegeneration-related dysfunction, and iii) analyze vitrified solid-liquid interfaces relevant to sustainable energy technologies.